Discussion of Vibratosax seems to have faded away. Does anyone own the latest model, the A1S III? I see Meridian Winds in Michigan is the dealer and the price is $450 which is tempting.
Still have my II that I bought as a novelty. It's pretty challenging to play in tune around B2-C#2. Video says they've improved that with the III, but hints that it's still a bit challenging right there.
Still makes people smile, though I'd be hard pressed to break it out for something other than just forking around.
It just occured to me that these horns have at least one immense innate problem. The usual strategy of having so many saxophones around that a new one will never be noticed by inquisitive others will fail completely with such a distinctive looking instrument.
As obvious as that might sound, actually, they might not be. There are thin gauge steel "axles" in the longer key rods. I don't know that they're stainless and it's quite possible they could rust, expand, and break apart the rods.
I tried one of these things at a Symposium a couple years back and I really dug it. What gets you is how incredibly light they are. For me it played just fine, and if my girlfriend had $450 on her I might have walked away with it.
BTW, I said I had a Series II. Just got it out tonight to look and it's actually a Series III. I can tell you it's still pretty challenging to play in tune around B2-C#2.
Won't matter to a beginner, though I'd be pretty reluctant to use it as anything other than a solo busking horn in the subway.
I tried one of these a couple of years ago at sax.co.uk,not sure whether it was a series III or a II,it played ok nothing special but was incredibly light,felt like more of a toy and felt like you would break it if you pressed too hard on the keys.
Didn't buy it thought it was too expensive,maybe in the future when they have got it as perfected as possible and if the price comes down somewhat it might be worth another look especially as my reason for trying it was because of back problems.
I don't get it though, for roughly the same price you can get a YAS-23 or VITO clone in decent shape, or a True Tone or Aristocrat all of which would likely sound and play better, and if it gets stolen, you are still only out $500. The only real advantage seems to be a couple of pounds of weight for a horn that isn't that heavy to begin with. A plastic baritone might make some sense.
I have a III, and I like it. It very nice to just leave it set up, I can grab it anytime and play. I've only had it a few weeks, still breaking it in. Will write more later.
looks like a good plaything for the beach. i knew someone who bought it as a backup because his main horn broke and he needed a temp horn fast.
he says its okay but the sound is not so loud.
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